Enhancing biomass and ethanol production by increasing NADPH production in Synechocystis sp. PCC 3803

Abstract

This study demonstrates that increased NADPH production can improve biomass and ethanol production in cyanobacteria. We over-expressed the endogenous zwf gene, which encodes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase of pentose phosphate pathway, in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. zwf over-expression resulted in increased NADPH production, and promoted biomass production compared to the wild type in both autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions. Ethanol production pathway including NADPH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase was also integrated with and without zwf overexpression. Excessive NADPH production by zwf over-expression could improve both biomass and ethanol production in the autotrophic conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.